ruwth is writing...

~ The Blizzard of '93 ~

The Blizzard of '93

Weather warning - stay off the roads.

She'd heeded the warning time after time.

She wasn't going to heed it this time.

She boldly headed across the bridge.

Heading from New York into Canada over the falls.



Weather warning - stay off the roads.

Half-way across, the blizzard hit full force.

She drove through freezing wind and snow.

She made it into Canada but something was wrong

She stepped on the gas but the van was losing speed.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

She could not see the road - she stopped.

She was off the road now - so much for that.

What would happen to her on the side of the road

In a country that was not her own?



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

What was going to happen to her.

She curled up in a sleeping bag on the bed in the back.

Bang, bang, bang -- someone pounding on her window.

She sprung like Tigger to the front of the van.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

Still in her sleeping bag, she peered out the window.

A Canadian policeman shined his light in her face.

Afraid, she opened the window just a tad.

"I'll call a tow-truck. You can wait in my cruiser?"



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

She remembered another warning she had heard:

A fake policeman killing unwary motorist along the way.

She wondered if he was really a policeman.

"No, I will wait here in the cold."



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

She stayed in the driver's seat of her Vanagon.

Her sleeping bag keeping her warm.

As she watched the lights from the cruiser

And wondered what her future held.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

The tow truck arrived and the driver offered her a ride.

Still afraid, she declined and stayed inside her van

As he towed her to a gas station in a nearby town

With a mechanic he was sure would help her.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

She paid the driver and waited in her van.

The owner to arrive and opened the station.

She started to tell him what was wrong

He only asked, "How much money do you have?".




Weather warning -stay off the roads.

Reluctantly,he pulled her van into the bay.

The icy storm had frozen the port of her carburetor

Allowing too much gas to flow.

"It is fixed," he said, "and here is your bill."



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

She was not happy. He was not kind.

He took her for almost every dime.

But her van was not fixed at all.

As she drove away it once again slowed to a crawl.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

She pulled into a convenient store, not knowing what to do.

She opened the engine compartment.

As she befuddled peered inside,

An extremely scruffy fellow stepped up and offered help.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

Here she was in Canada, alone, broke and broke down.

"I can't fix it but I know who can." the stranger said.

"My friend Soupbone is the man."

"Follow me to my house. I'll give him a call."



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

She had not trusted the policeman.

She had not trust the tow-truck driver

Now she was desperate.

Slowly, she drove after the scruffy fellow.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

Soupbone told them to bring her out.

She climbed in her van again.

Driving after them to parts unknown

To meet the fella they called Soupbone.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

This Sunday School teacher was nervous.

The strangers who offered her help

Were members of a motorcycle gang

Bragging about their encounters with the law.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

"Oh yeh, the po-po were here the other day."

"I was stark naked when I opened the door."

Soupbone laughed while he told this story

While quietly, she prayed.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

Soupbone started to work on her van.

He toiled and he tinkered.

He poured in some oil.

He fired it up, "You're good to go."



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

She asked him what she owed."Not a dime. Not a penny."

Then Soupbone pressed a wad of bills into her hand.

She had been so afraid of these folks so different from her.

But they extended themselves and gave all they could.



Weather warning -stay off the roads.

It has been years now but she still remembers

And asks for God's blessing

On the motorcycle gang who came to her rescue

In Canada on that cold winter's day, eh?






I started this poem here: " Week 6 - The Blizzard of '93 (in Canada)" 
This longer version was written for "Invalid Item" 
It is exactly 100 Lines.
AND it is a true story about ME!!!

~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~